Everyone needs a sense of belonging. Research shows a strong link between feeling like you belong and having a high quality of life. For many people, being among coworkers, family members, classmates, teammates, neighbors, or fellow congregants can bring a sense of community and acceptance. However, being part of these groups can make autistics feel…
This fall, we launched an outreach campaign to continue OAR’s goal of supporting the autism community using our Kit for Kids peer education program. We initially set out to teach 30,000 students, and we are pleased to share that we surpassed that target, reaching a total of 41,643 students in grades K-8. Through the Kit…
OAR recently celebrated its 23rd anniversary. At 23, most of us were likely still figuring out who we were and what we wanted to do with our lives. However, OAR’s 23 years represent an incredible body of work: over two decades of funding research and providing free, high-quality resources to the autism community. As many…
Conversations continue to grow about college readiness for autistic students. It is a conversation I am eager to have because higher education choices have never been more widely available. One thing we often do not discuss is that what challenges come with college readiness apply to all learners. College students are underprepared for the college…
The United States is facing a supply-demand problem, as noted by Education Next in a 2024 article. In May 2024, the Report on the Condition of Education found that a record number of students with disabilities were enrolled in an educational institution. The number of U.S. students ages 3 to 21 served under the Individuals…
OAR recently awarded $78,918 to support 17 projects led by the fall 2024 winners of the Peer Education Grant program. In total, OAR has awarded $107,497 for 27 projects in 2024. With these grants, OAR has helped educate over 237,000 children through the Kit for Kids program since 2012. Launched in 2012, the program supports projects that promote…
In 2022, OAR awarded a graduate research grant to Faith Frost, who was pursuing her doctoral degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at James Madison University. Her study, “Interpretation of Indirect Requests by Autistic Adults,” examined how autistic adults determine whether a statement could or should be interpreted as an indirect request, depending on context.…
With the rising inclusion of autistic students in general education settings, the challenges of managing a classroom can be more complex. An Educator’s Guide to Autism, one of OAR’s Life Journey Through Autism guides, provides educators with a plan for teaching an autistic child in the general elementary classroom setting. Uniquely, this guidebook includes a six-step…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the current rate of autism diagnosis is one in every 36 children. This increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism is frequently a focus of autism acceptance in K-12 schools. However, this also means autistic children are increasingly present in local communities and…
What do you remember most about your relationship with teachers in kindergarten or the early school grades? Some people have fond memories—learning to read, making new friends, becoming attached to the teacher. Autistic children and other neurodivergent students, however, may have quite different experiences. While the literature based on non-autistic student-teacher relationships has established that…
